My first outsourced tech support experience.

[katyism.livejournal.com]

So I'm trying to decide whether or not to buy this cheap HP Scanjet 4600 or not. It's the cheapest scanner I can find in a local store at the moment. I browsed around and read some reviews. Everything says it's an OK scanner, which is all I need, but the proprietary software/driver bundle that comes with it is suckass. It won't let you name an image you've scanned, it names them itself and you've got to go find the files yourself if you want to rename them. (Luckily I know how to find files, unlike a typical user who has no idea where they save the things they save), but that's still a big inconvenience. The other thing is that if you want to adjust the scan resolution, there's no quick setting that can be toggled between resolution choices. You've got to go deep into the control panel and adjust the default resolution, and that value cannot be changed as long as you're still using the application. Lame.

Well, with other scanners you can usually just get the driver and skip the proprietary scanning application, and have your application of choice (such as Photoshop) just do a TWAIN32 import. None of the reviews or specs I read anywhere mentioned TWAIN32. So anyway I decided, for a whim, to chat online with tech support to ask about this. Since that's what I do all day at work, except the customers are not so well informed about their own computing needs. So I ring up HP Total Care for Digital Imaging Products Customer Care, and I get assigned to an online technician named "Kathy."



Kathy: Hello Katy
Kathy: Welcome to HP Total Care for Digital Imaging Products. My name is Kathy. How may I assist you today?
Me: I am curious to know whether the Scanjet 4600 supports TWAIN32 import from an application like Photoshop.
Kathy: May I have a few minutes of your time to look for the information, please?
Me: Sure
Kathy: Yes, the scanner supports TWAIN32 applications from the Photoshop. But the photoshop needs to be a default application in the scanner while scanning.

"the" photoshop?
this is when i realized i wasn't talking to a native english speaker.
along with what she said not making sense at all.

Me: Can I avoid using the proprietary software that comes with the scanner, as long as I only install the driver?
Kathy: Yes, you can use the software that comes along with the scanner.
Me: No, I do not want to use it. Can I not use it?

at this point I realized i might need to simplify my language and make my statements brief.

Kathy: Okay, however, the photoshop needs to be in the destination.
Me: What is the destination?
Kathy: I mean the Photoshop should be installed while you install the software for the scanner.
Me: I do not want to install the software for the scanner. I want to install ONLY the driver, and have Photoshop do the TWAIN32 import. Please ask your supervisor if this is possible.

okay, i got angry. i wondered whether a supervisor might understand what i was asking, too, so i mentioned it.

Kathy: No, Katy. I can understand how important it is for you use the TWAIN32. However, we cannot install only the drivers for the scanner and needs to install the whole software for the function of the TWAIN32.
Me: Why?

there was a long pause in the chat here. she talked to the supervisor, yay!

Kathy: Let me check if I can find only the TWAIN drivers for the scanner.
Me: Thank you very much
Kathy: You are welcome
Kathy: Am I right in understanding that you are using Windows XP as your operating system?
Me: Yes
Kathy: Katy, I have just verified personally with my supervisor and got got the web page to download and install the TWAIN drivers for required for the 4600 scanner.

woot! success.
later, i realized i could have found these drivers myself if i had felt like looking. they're right there on the hp driver page for this model. oh well.


Kathy: I will provide the TWAIN drivers and please download and install them.
Kathy: Is that okay for you?
Me: Yes
Kathy: Sure.
Kathy: I will share the page for the TWAIN drivers. Now, you will receive a web page as a pop up and please save that on to your favorites.
Me: Very good, I have it.
Kathy: That's fine.
Kathy: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
Me: I would like to thank you for talking with the supervisor.
Kathy: It's my pleasure helping you today.
Me: Please have a good day, goodbye.
Kathy: May I know whether you have satisfied with the chat session today with me, please?
Me: Yes, that's fine.
Kathy: Katy, I will be very thankful to you, If you could please make time to provide the feedback for this Chat Support. You will be receiving the feedback form to your e-mail address along with the whole chat session, which we had now.

the end.



Oh, and don't misunderstand me. I'm not meaning to make fun of overseas technical support phone and chat people. We've all heard plenty about it, whatever. But I'd never had a personal experience with it yet, because, well, I just really don't go out of my way to contact official experts when I have trouble with something. Haven't called tech support in years, the last time was when I hit the wrong option for AOL billing & cancellations. Now that I've had this experience it helps me understand how the international students that *I* have to talk on the phone to and chat with every day, must feel. Always remember the person on EITHER end of the line is just as frustrated as the other.
But don't forget to hit the mute button and scream "GOD YOU IDIOT!!" and then bitch about them to your colleagues after the call ends. We all do that too...

Comments

[jecook]

I hear ya.

For the record, I have a 4670. The TWAIN interface is mostly ok. You have to do quite a bit of tweaking for some things.

Granted, for what I'm currently using it for (lineart scanning), it's da bomb, and loads better then the other scaner I was using (which is a sheetfed scanner attached to my fax machine)

[fuego.livejournal.com]

i occasionally for no good reason referr to photoshop as 'the photoshop" when talking to people...but hal the time i realize i've done that and say "the photoshop application"

[fuego.livejournal.com]

oh...and i've had nothing but probems when i've had to deal with overseas tech support. yeah, i realize it's cheaper for the company and stuff...but i'd love to see data on how many people have stopped buying from companies that they can't get comprehensible assistance from.

[tmercenary.livejournal.com]

That sounds like it went ok compared to what I've delt with. I work internal support, and 75% of our 1st level calls go to our center in India. My main job is quality assurance, escalation, and SME duties for the call rep's in India. For example:
"Her computer crashed, and when it came back up, it was no longer Windows XP. It has gone back in time. Back to a time before it was Windows XP."

the user had been booted into safe mode. But ticket log entry sounded like a good start to a PK Dick story.

[katyism.livejournal.com]

do they consult you in real-time or what? i'm interested in the tier structure of this type of thing. all our tier 1-4 support are hillbillies. where do the tier 1 indians reach the americans? what tier is that in their structure?
mmmm red tape!

[tmercenary.livejournal.com]

Our setup is rather unique. The Indian rep's can call us, talk it over, and then transfer the user in, or use a webchat feature that works like any web based chat tool to ask us to reset passwords and check tools/permissions that they don't have access to. Otherwise, they are suppose to troubleshoot the issue, and if it cannot be resolved, document what database article they used, and escalate the ticket, where we can review it. If I can get ahold of the person, which is tought with third shift, I can resolve a good 90-95% of the issues I reach the user on. Otherwise push it to the daytime crew for followup, or escalate to 3rd tier support as needed. Some of the agents do better then others, and I've noticed the ones who do well for any length of time in India seem to get promoted up quickly over there, leaving us to have to do "on the job training" for the new hires.

[benatwork.livejournal.com]

I have one of those. It takes some tweaking, but is adequate for most needs. Yes, you can use photoshop for scanning, but it still brings up HP's interface. Strangely, it seems to be a bit wonky in Windows 98. After a few months of using it, the scanner suddenly doesn't register as connected at all. Still works on the XP machines, though.